Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Hansard source

I think I caught a good number of Senator Ludlam’s comments, if not all. In the earlier debate we had, where I pleaded for the government to provide some extra time for consideration of its detailed amendments to ensure that we got all of them right, I think I made it quite clear that the position of the opposition coming into this debate is that we are trying to put forward amendments in good faith, but that does not vary our position of opposition to the NBN and does not ultimately vary our position of opposition to these bills and what the government is trying to do around the NBN.

I am not attempting to hide anything there. I made it clear earlier and I make it clear again that our opposition is based on some of the fundamental concerns we have with the NBN. But along the way we are attempting to do our best to hold the government to account and ensure that—on the presumption that this will eventually pass and become law—it reflects what the government has said is its intention and that it does what is best for the consumer and the telco sector by providing the necessary outcomes.

Senator Ludlam heard, as did I, the evidence provided to the Senate committee. He heard the various terms on which parties raised concerns about this. Let me quote a couple of those areas of concern from the committee report.